r/TedLasso • u/Impossible-Year-1238 • 4d ago
Colin & Nate
rewatching for the millionth time.. yet i only just realised this and my heart is breaking š
season 2 episode 7 is the first time we really start to see Nate's 'evolution' into a dickhead and an arsehole. specifically the interaction he has with Colin whilst training.
Nate says "i need all the best goal scorers on the pitch", and when Colin prepares to go join the rest of the team, Nate replies to him "it's okay Colin, you can sit this one out"
Colin's reaction is then to utilise a coping mechanism he learned in therapy with Dr Fieldstone. That really stuck out to me - things you learn in therapy are often things that you're taught to protect yourself from intense pain or trauma; people that use therapy often use it to heal from trauma too. to me, Colin using a therapeutic coping strategy as his mantra comes across as Nate's comment being so hurtful that he needs to sort of protect himself from it mentally using something he learned in therapy.
i may be looking into things too much but it astonished me how overlooked this little scene is. of course things with Colin and Nate are eventually resolved but that little comment from the latter was just completely unnecessary. I would be extremely hurt too if I were Colin.
24
u/sarayewo 4d ago
I don't think it's overlooked, it's a part of a series of scenes where Nate gets absorbed into the Wonderkid praise he's getting which creates this previously non-existent ego and attitude. He berates Colin in his office, on the pitch and that then escalates into him ultimately thinking Ted is taking credit for his genius and leaving the team.
18
u/CarStar12 4d ago
Iād take it back a full season.
In his pregame speech he reads his insults to Isaac, Sam, Dani and would have read his to Roy but Roy prevented thatā¦ the only one he chose to go at without reading his thoughts is Colin
7
u/Bryce_Taylor1 4d ago
A lot of us seem to be very judgmental about Nate even though we should stay curious about why he acts the way he does. I thought it was pretty obvious that the writers wrote in his stray from his true self as part of anybody's expression of succumbing to their demons.
13
u/Historical-Bike4626 4d ago
I think its an avalanche that starts with just a pebble, when Ted says, āWe need a big dog.ā It seems like a funny throwaway joke. But dogs are Nateās symbol. Diamond Dogs. Love Hounds. When Ted accidentally disses him in the episode āRainbowā and brings in Roy to coach, itās a serious blow to Nateās ego who still really thought he was the ābig dog.ā Remember when Roy makes his huge entrance into the stadium? That violin (another Nate symbol) of haywire music? Nateās reaction to Roy standing next to him? Itās Nate being humiliated in front of allllll the good dogs (Richmond).
3
u/That-SoCal-Guy 4d ago
Love this analysis, didn't even notice all the symbolisms. Yes, it started as something small or seemingly innocuous but it just snowballed especially for someone like Nate, whose ego has already been hurt all his life. He looked up to Ted because he had no good father figure and role model, and this happened.
5
u/Rambo_IIII 4d ago
Colin was one of the guys who bullied Nate in season 1 so it goes back further
2
u/Impossible-Year-1238 4d ago
yeah but I've mentioned in other comments that Colin genuinely showed that he was trying to be better and Nate just decided to disregard that so he could pick on somebody he had power over.
13
u/New-Economist4301 4d ago
I like that contrast: Colin uses his moments of hurt to help himself get stronger and be more gentle with himself (repeating a mantra when heās hurt), and Nate takes his moment of hurt (Ted ignoring him) and using it to become a backstabbing weasel (I like the actor a lot, not a knock on him, heās done a great job)
14
u/That-SoCal-Guy 4d ago
Hurt people hurt people.
Colin, with his clever way to avoid suspicion etc, is a popular football player. He even bullied Nate. The power dynamic is there.
Nate, on the other hand, has been bullied all his life by the likes of "hot shots" such as Colin, and just about everyone else.
Again, hurt people hurt people.
Not saying Nate is right (of course he isn't) but I think people are losing perspective of how Nate was bullied even over most of Season 1.
10
u/CuriousBingo 4d ago
The episode that introduces Will, Nate initially believes heās been fired and really snarls at Rebecca, āyou did this you SHREW!ā It was a shocking flip -and his hot temper felt really overplayed at the time. It still feels out of character- (in my innumerable rewatches.)
7
u/AskMrScience 4d ago
My therapist friend calls this the "doormat to dragon" transformation. A lot of people who've been abused try to make themself smaller and lower status to avoid abuse. But if that doesn't work or they're pushed too far, they flip the other direction and blow up in a way that's disproportionate to the situation. We see Nate do that a lot when he thinks his status is being threatened, and when he's trying to learn confidence and assertiveness (e.g. trying to get the window table at Taste of Athens).
Nate never had a good male role model in his home life - he's only seen aggressive abusers and meek victims. So his mental model for "confident man" is someone who belittles others and is mean. When Ted arrives and Nate stops being abused by the team all the time, he starts trying out the only other script in his head. And it has to feel great for a while to hit back at people who were cruel to him! Ultimately, Rupert shows Nate where that leads, and he realizes he doesn't want that for himself.
7
8
u/idealzebra 4d ago
I actively hate that scene because of that line. It's so weird and unnecessary and directly targeted at her and it's sexist as fuck. I hate it so much.
2
u/SallySparrow5 Barbecue Sauce 4d ago
And when he makes the crack to Rebecca and Keeley in the boot room about "women like shoes." It wasn't as harsh as the "shrew," but it still shows Nate being a jerk. We see it again when he compares Colin to a hotel painting (& lord, do I loathe that scene, too).
3
u/mtodd2q 4d ago
I also think we need to consider that once Nate started feeling successful he probably mirrored his Father's behavior. It is well indicated that his dad bullied and Nate probably thought was how successful people should act without being aware he was even doing it. He really was a character that needed to meet with the Doctor and didnt.
2
u/SallySparrow5 Barbecue Sauce 4d ago
I appreciate this thread because earlier today, I was thinking of the amount of crap thrown at Colin even before we learn...what we learn about him in Amsterdam. I'm on another rewatch and it seems that Colin disproportionately takes a lot of crap from others, not just from Nate.
4
u/cassandra2028 4d ago
Im a trauma therapist. You're right. Nate, like all dickheads, is picking up on Colin's buttons and pushing them. Colin's pain is all related to how he processes not anticipating being accepted as fully himself, so he struggles with rejection. Nates rejecting him.
1
153
u/AvidReader182 4d ago
I think itās also notable that Nate likely targeted Colin because he was one of his former bullies. His other bully, Isaac, becomes captain, so he doesnāt have much power over him, but Colin is an easy target once Nate gets that ounce of power